Tag "European Union"
EU set to tighten rules on palm oil for biofuels
The new rules will define which fuels can be counted toward EU renewable energy targets.
If it is adopted, the European Parliament and member countries will have two months to give any objections before it’s finalised.
If the commission chooses tough criteria could significantly limit one of Indonesia’s and Malaysia’s biggest exports – palm oil.
“Malaysia is committed to producing sustainable palm oil … every drop of palm oil produced in Malaysia will be certified sustainable by 2020.” Jakarta, meanwhile, plans to lodge a complaint with the WTO on the grounds that the EU directive will unfairly target palm oil in favour of European commodities like rapeseed oil, Reuters reported last week.
Instead, palm oil and other crops will have to pass new “objective and non-discriminatory” criteria in order to qualify as low-carbon and renewable sources of energy, the EU’s ambassador to Indonesia, Vincent Guérend, wrote in a letter to the Jakarta Post in November.
“If it failed to pass these criteria, palm oil imports would still be possible under current condition, except European member states could not count it as ‘renewable energy’ anymore.” The EU is working with the Indonesian government to see how its palm oil can comply with the coming rules, with about four years to prepare, he added.
According to the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E), biodiesel releases three times the greenhouse gas emissions of fossil fuel diesel, once land use is taken into account.
On the other hand, banning palm oil outright – which the Commission does not intend to do – would hurt more sustainable producers as well.
France announced in November that it will stop imports of palm oil, soy, beef and other products linked to deforestation and unsustainable agriculture by 2030.
NOTE: This article was amended to indicate that the rules may not be finalised at the meeting this week.
World’s three biggest rainforests face year of precarious politics
Recent leadership changes in Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and presidential elections in Indonesia this April, are fuelling concerns that politics could side with industries such as palm oil, timber, mining and agriculture in the world’s three biggest rainforest countries.
Bolsonaro’s Davos speech promised anguish in indigenous lands Meanwhile in Indonesia, the two presidential candidates – incumbent Joko Widodo (known as Jokowi) and ex-army officer Prabowo Subianto – have given vague promises of environmental protection but few details.
As of 2015, Brazil was home to 12% of total forest global cover, the DRC nearly 4% and Indonesia 2%, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
“Forests could provide about a third of the solution to climate change, but at the moment they’re more part of the problem because of deforestation,” said Tim Christophersen, head of UN Environment’s freshwater, land and climate branch in Kenya.
Brazil’s deforestation in 2017 was equivalent to 365 million tonnes of CO2 and jumped by almost 50% over the three months of campaigning before Bolsonaro was elected last year.
The DRC’s tree cover loss was equivalent to 158Mt last year and Indonesia’s to 125Mt.
Bolsonaro’s deforestation of the Amazon has already begun Environmentalists are particularly concerned about Brazil.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, deforestation remains relatively high and driven by clearing for agriculture, the use of wood for energy, timber and mining, said Christophersen.
The UN’s REDD+ programme, which pays developing countries to reduce their deforestation, is starting to work in some places.
The country has around 69% of its natural forest intact, he said.
EU Vows To Maintain Iran Energy Investment Despite Sanctions
As US economic sanctions against Iran kicked in again today – a result of Donald Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal in May – the European Union said it is urging its business to continue investing in Iran.
This has been particularly of interest for the energy sector, given that Iran possesses large reserves.
The Israeli government has been strongly against the deal, fearing that an end to sanctions will jeopardize its ultimate objective or regime change in Iran.
The EU is trying to keep the deal alive without the US, but is facing an uphill struggle as the US threatens to sanction European companies who continue to do business in Iran. “The lifting of nuclear-related sanctions is an essential part of the deal,” the EU joint statement read.
The EU foreign ministers vowed to work toward “the preservation and maintenance of effective financial channels with Iran, and the continuation of Iran’s export of oil and gas.”
The statement also reiterated the EU’s intention of activating a ‘blocking statute’ that would allow EU countries and companies to continue doing business with Iran.
European investment in Iran has exploded since the nuclear deal was agreed two and a half years ago.
Last month the EU foreign ministers wrote a letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying that persevering with the existing nuclear deal was the “best basis on which to engage Iran”.
Iran and the EU have been working together in the past months to try to find a way to shield European companies from American punishment if they continue investments.
UK Politician Amber Rudd: No Deal Brexit as Bad as Climate Denial
Guest essay by Eric Worrall Former British Secretary for Energy and Climate Change Amber Rudd, who admitted to “inadvertently” misleading parliament when she resigned as Home Secretary, has just conflated criticism of the British Government’s Brexit proposition with “climate denial”.
Amber Rudd compares Eurosceptics to climate change deniers as she warns over ‘sobering risks’ of no-deal Brexit Anyone who claims Brexit will be easy is ‘being as cavalier with people’s future as those who deny that the belching of fossil fuels into the atmosphere is warming the planet’ Lizzy Buchan Political Correspondent A former cabinet minister has compared Brexiteers to climate change deniers as she fired off a warning over the “sobering risks” to the economy if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal.
… Writing in The Sunday Times, Ms Rudd, a former energy secretary, said: “Yes, we will leave the EU’s political institutions in March next year – we will no longer have MEPs or be members of the European Council.
But disentangling regulatory and legal systems that have been entwined for more than 40 years will require delicate diplomacy.
“Such an endeavour will not be straightforward.
Anyone who claims it will is being as cavalier with people’s future as those who deny that the belching of fossil fuels into the atmosphere is warming the planet.
“Just as we must listen to scientific warnings about the risks of manmade climate change, so we must listen to the businesses and economists warning that a chaotic Brexit will threaten our economy.” … Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/amber-rudd-brexit-weather-climate-change-european-union-no-deal-exit-a8468386.html There is no doubt that post Brexit, many British greens will miss their generous former friends in the European Union.
But in my opinion Amber Rudd’s attempt to conflate climate “denial” and criticism of the government’s Brexit plans in my opinion is a desperate and rather clumsy attempt to shut down public debate.
Malta’s ‘barbaric’ finch traps ruled illegal by EU court
Malta has broken EU law by allowing the hunting and trapping of several finch species, the European court has ruled.
An estimated 110,000 finches have been caught by hunters since then, along with many other wild birds such as song thrushes and golden plovers.
Catherine Bearder, the Liberal Democrat MEP, hailed the verdict as “a welcome judgment that confirms what we have all known for too long.
The slaughter of these wonderful birds is illegal and unsustainable.
The EU must step in and take action to stop the killing without delay.” Finch-trapping was once common across Europe but the practice has been progressively rolled back by the EU’s birds directive, which aims to conserve avian species and prevent habitat destruction.
It should mark the end of indiscriminate trapping, which is a completely unsustainable and barbaric practice.” According to BirdLife, the court verdict effectively outlaws the trapping of finches in Malta, which had been due to resume with this autumn’s hunting season.
Malta had reportedly argued in court that the EU’s birds directive allowed it to strike a balance between conservation and leisure activities.
But the judges in Luxembourg found that its derogation was not selective, did not apply merely to “small numbers of birds”, and that more humane alternatives had not been considered.
“Trapping in Malta is so intensive that only a handful of each of the common finch species regularly breed on the islands, whereas they breed in high numbers in other areas of the Mediterranean,” the ruling noted.
Those that survive are typically sold between trappers or traded in markets and pet shops as “domestic birds”.
EU decides on non-binding 2030 energy efficiency target
Deal between lawmakers and ministers will cut energy waste 32.5% and reduce reliance on fossil fuel imports, but didn’t go far enough for green groups EU negotiators finally signed off on new energy efficiency rules Tuesday evening (19 June), as Bulgaria’s EU Presidency wrapped up another clean energy file.
The Council was able to defend its own red line though; namely, where energy savings should or should not actually be made.
Comment: The EU needs to update its climate ambition – here’s how It looked likely that the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) would mirror the renewable energy directive (RED) agreement with a ‘32/32’ set of targets but the extra half a percentage point sets the energy savings rules apart.
The RED deal is also binding rather than a mere ‘headline’.
Talks had started and were ongoing at the time of writing.
EU negotiators meet once again this week for what promises to be final talks on two crucial energy files on energy governance and energy efficiency.
But Bulgarian Presidency negotiator Zhecho Stankov insisted that his mandate was not generous enough to meet the Parliament’s new negotiating position and the talks collapsed.
Poche tweeted after tonight’s agreement that the deal is “strong” on Article 7 and that the final text will guarantee “higher annual savings” than the European Commission’s original proposal.
But Europe’s gas self-sufficiency dropped below 50% for the very first time as well.
This article was produced by Euractiv
Striving To Reduce Ocean Pollution, EU Proposes Ban Of Everyday Plastic Items
Getty Images Alarmed by the sheer quantity of plastic clogging our oceans, the European Union is mulling ambitious new rules that would reduce or outrightly prohibit many everyday single-use plastic items.
Some of these items — like plastic straws, cotton buds, plates and disposable cutlery — will be banned completely under the new rules, which require the approval of the European Parliament and all 28 EU member states.
500,000 tonnes of EU plastic waste end up in the sea every year.
We can only solve this urgent issue together.
Improved waste management of abandoned and lost fishing gear, which accounts for almost 30 percent of Europe’s beach litter, is also mandated in the proposal.
“Single-use plastics are not a smart economic or environmental choice, and today’s proposals will help business and consumers to move towards sustainable alternatives.
We can create sustainable products that the world will demand for decades to come, and extract more economic value from our precious resources.#PlasticsStrategy #PassOnPlastic pic.twitter.com/19mCvxlJOq — European Commission 🇪🇺 (@EU_Commission) May 28, 2018 According to CNN Money, it could take three or four years for the rules to be enforced.
But if they are, the European Commission said the measures are expected have a profound financial and environmental impact.
“Having one set of rules for the whole EU market will create a springboard for European companies to develop economies of scale and be more competitive in the booming global marketplace for sustainable products,” the commission said in a press release.
Plastics Europe, a trade group representing European manufacturers, criticized the proposal, saying in a press release that “plastic product bans are not the solution” and “alternative products may not be more sustainable.”
EU’s Energy Chief Says ‘Time Has Come’ For New Russia, Ukraine Gas Talks
BRUSSELS, May 23 (Reuters) – The European Union’s energy chief said on Wednesday he had reached out to Russia and Ukraine to relaunch EU-mediated talks over their gas dispute and continued gas transits via Ukraine to Europe after their contract expires in 2019. “I have reached out to both, Ukrainian and Russian partners, and invited them for trilateral talks,” European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said in a statement. “The talks… should start as soon as possible in order to take stock of the gas matters important for involved parties and to look into gas transit via Ukraine beyond 2019.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow was ready for talks with Ukraine on continued gas transits through the country, following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
(Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel @AdeCar; editing by Philip Blenkinsop) Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone.
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UK Makes Sneaky Push to Weaken EU Paris Efforts Ahead of Brexit
With one foot out the Brexit door, the UK is secretly trying to weaken EU commitments to the Paris agreement in a move branded “rude” by one member of European parliament (MEP), The Guardian reported Wednesday.
The EU is currently set to reduce its energy use by 20 percent by making improvements to energy efficiency and buildings.
The targets cover the years 2014 to 2020, but the UK is lobbying to be allowed to count efficiency improvements made from 2010, and to carry over any improvements made over the target to count towards post-2020 commitments. “This approach would risk failure in our efforts to reach even moderately ambitious overall targets, while the higher—and beneficial targets—that we need to strive for could become lost altogether,” Jávor said.
Unlike their counterparts in the U.S., UK conservatives currently in power have rhetorically embraced global environmental action.
The UK has also emerged as a leader in the global fight against ocean plastics this year, announcing in April a plan to end the sale of single-use plastics like straws and drink stirrers.
But some are concerned that the government’s actions won’t match its words, and this move confirms those fears. “This sneaky, behind-the-scenes amendment indicates a government that likes to pretend it is a global leader but will not take the strong policy action needed to deliver the necessary change,” shadow international trade and climate spokesman Barry Gardiner told The Guardian.
These concerns were further supported by a recent risk analysis commissioned by Friends of the Earth that found that Brexit is likely to weaken UK environmental regulations.
The analysis found that a 25-year environment plan launched by May and touted by Gove was vague and less ambitious than current EU law.
Three quarters of EU climate finance goes to middle income countries: report
The Act Alliance is calling on the EU to direct more climate finance to the most vulnerable, after finding Turkey and Ukraine were the biggest beneficiaries The EU favours middle-income countries with its climate aid program, according to analysis by a coalition of development agencies.
In a report released on Wednesday, the Act Alliance called on the EU to revise its climate finance strategy after finding EU institutions channeled 78% of their funding to middle income countries.
Vulnerable least developed countries (LDC) received just 19%.
Act Alliance spokesman Mattias Söderberg said: “There’s a lot of political will to tie Turkey and the EU together; this cooperation means a flow of funds to the region.
It’s very unfortunate because the funds are needed most in the poorer countries, but they’re just not getting there as much.” The study compiled climate finance accounts from the European Commission, development banks and member states.
Climate change is a major driver of conflict and major catastrophes, this is highly likely to cause migration as a result of displacement,” said Söderberg.
“Possibilities for development are at risk if we don’t invest in the right places now.” Report: Africa holds EU climate agenda ransom The EU and other developed countries have promised to collectively mobilise $100 billion of climate aid each year by 2020.
Over 40% of EU climate aid is delivered as loans, which means that developing countries must repay the support that they receive.
Söderberg said a loans-based funding model could undermine EU alliances with African states for upcoming climate talks in Bonn and Katowice.
Currently, there is no agreement.” Transparency of climate finance is a key issue at UN climate talks, as countries aim to agree a rulebook for implementing the Paris Agreement by the end of 2018.
